TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — Natasha Woods never thought she and her family would be living in a shelter. But they are among hundreds of Fort Worth families experiencing homelessness.
"They can hit rock bottom; it can happen to anyone," Woods said. "Beginning of the year, I became homeless with me and my kids. We were sleeping in my car from pillar to post wherever we could lay our head."
Fort Worth city leaders are working hard to stay ahead of homelessness, and some predicted the uptick in numbers.
Both Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and Laura King, who heads up the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition, are on a mission to decrease the number of people living on the streets.
Parker and King have dreams of converting locations, like the Tobias Place property, into affordable housing. If successful, it would provide temporary to permanent housing for hundreds of families. New renderings show how a multi-family structure would look after construction.
Parker and King are also partnering with other agencies, support organizations, charities and private donors interested in changing the projection of homelessness in North Texas.
Parker has visited local shelters at capacity. She's talked with several families to learn and to understand some of the paths that have led to more families losing their homes.
"My objective yesterday was to make them feel respected, and loved and heard," Parker said. "Their story matters, and this is not their life story... This is just a blip. And we're here to help them get back on their feet. And you could feel that pain through them. But also, they reacted well to empathy and people listening to them."
In North Texas, city officials are seeing more two-parent families impacted by homelessness. Also, current trends show in Tarrant and Parker counties alone, at least 1,000 people are experiencing homeless. In the month of August, that included 340 children.
Right now, every single shelter is operating at capacity.
Some shelters are being forced to draw names for who will be allowed to sleep overnight inside their facilities. Finances have run out for hotel vouchers and unfortunately, in some cases, people are being turned away at shelters.
Parker and Fort Worth City Council have allocated $75,000.00 to the Salvation Army family shelter, so it can continue helping families on a regular basis. Council members also reallocated some federal funds toward rehousing families immediately.
Even as Parker addresses current homelessness trends across the city, she the council and the coalition are preparing for the impact cold weather will have on the homeless population. Unfortunately, due to the full shelters, street outreach teams have reported more families being forced to sleep in their vehicles.
"This is an issue nationwide that every major city is dealing with, and I have had these conversations with mayors across the country about what to do." Parker said. "But this is not something we are just going to accept as the norm for our city."
Retired schoolteacher Virginia Smith is trying to get back on her feet. She tries to make the occupant list for the shelter every day. At the age of 75, she is forced to sleep on the street when her name is not drawn to stay inside. She is surviving on food from a local church that provides homeless people breakfast and lunch.
The church even gave Smith a purse after someone stole her purse. Now, she hopes replacing her stolen personal belongings, such as bank cards, will lead to obtaining her own apartment. Still, somehow, she considers herself blessed despite sleeping outside.
"And it was very, very cold," Smith. "I didn't have anything to keep me warm. So I got up and I was going to crawl across the street. The nice people from WhenWeLove brought me a blanket to keep warm."
Smith is hoping to reunite with her daughters in Fort Worth soon. In the meantime, she is just one of many people city leaders are hoping to connect to wrap-around services to help start the process of getting back on their feet.
"I know how to pray. Most people can't pray. So, God will help us all," said Smith.
The Tarrant County Homeless Coalition has drafted some system-wide options as part of a plan to address the crisis of unsheltered families. The coalition members are also discussing possible options with local and state-elected officials.